A dream for many of us is to swim with or watch dolphins in the wild! Since the summer of 1989-1990 Dolphin Encounter has operated tours to the dusky dolphins found traditionally quite close to the shore at Kaikoura.
Kaikoura's point of difference is the fact that we have the highest success rate for locating the marine mammals and swimming with the dolphins than anywhere in New Zealand. We are one of the world's leading destinations to view marine mammals and seabirds in their natural environment.
Numbers of dusky dolphins vary depending on the time of year and the weather conditions, but generally pods from 100 to 1000 dolphins can be found off the Kaikoura coast.